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The Story Teller
The Story Teller is a short story which Johns wrote for The New Book of the Air which was published by Oxford University Press in 1935. There he was credited as William Earle. It was then published again in November 1936 issue of Air Stories. Thereafter the story was not gathered into an anthology in Johns' lifetime and only came out in Winged Justice and Other Uncollected Stories published by Norman Wright in 2001. Synopsis This is a cautionery tale by Johns on the hazards of telling stories to strangers. One should at least know something about the audience first. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) An unnamed American pilot drops in at a flying club and regales a circle of young club members with his war stories. He opens with the ever familiar "flying isn't what it used to be during the old days...." and proceeds to narrate his exploits as a pilot in the R.F.C. during World War 1. He was, he says, posted to 60 Sqn and became a great friend and comrade of one Dick Sylvester whom everyone called "Pug". "Pug" was an exceptional pilot who had some 45 combat victories but this story teller says, was mostly with his help. The club secretary, who is the only older man in the audience is interested and asks if he knew "Pug" well. Like brothers, says the story teller. They always "hunted" together, and Pug "swore by" him to protect his rear. The story teller then proceeds to narrate the events of the day Pug had won the D.F.C.--how Pug was overdue coming back from a patrol and the story teller had to take off to search for him. Pug had apparently run out of fuel and had force-landed and had been captured. The story teller rescued him and they returned to base with Pug hanging on to the wing. On the way, they had been intercepted by Richtofen's circus. He cannot remember how many enemy aircraft he shot down (all the while with Pug on the wing), he says, and even Richtofen himself kept his distance. The story teller then landed his heavily damaged S.E.5 at base. Pug had knocked himself on the head during the landing and the story teller had to carry him into the office. The club secretary excuses himself as he has work to do. All the while, he had been offering the story teller drinks and expressing the odd sceptical remark. Who is that "funny little runt?" asks the story teller. Milton, one of his young audience tells him: that's Dick Sylvester of 60 Squadron, whom everybody called "Pug". Characters *Milton *Dick "Pug" Silvester Aircraft *Moth *S.E.5 Places *A flying club somewhere in England Research Notes *The story teller refers to March 1918 German offensive. *While the story teller is American, it is likely that he served in a British R.F.C. unit. American units in World War 1 only used the S.E.5 for training. Moreover, Dick Sylvester in his unit was awarded the D.F.C. This would most likely be the British award which was established in June 1918. The American D.F.C. was not established until 1926. *60 Squadron was the unit of aces such as Albert Ball and William Bishop. Publication History *''The New Book of the Air'', Oxford University Press, 1935 - as William Earle *''Air Stories'', George Newnes, November 1936 - titled "The Story-Teller", subtitled "The Short Story of an Unrecorded Incident of the Great War in the Air", as Capt. W. E. Johns *Collected in Winged Justice and Other Uncollected Stories, Norman Wright, 2001 References Category:Short stories Category:Uncollected stories Category:Other short stories